Come Again!

One of the magazines I subscribe to is Outreach magazine and the reason I enjoy it is because it helps fuel my passion for connecting with wandering sojourners as well as equipping me to become a better evangelist.

After consulting with hundreds of churches, Thom Rainer submitted an interesting article in a recent publication entitled “10 Reasons Guests Don’t Return to Your Church”. Rainer writes, “Most church members have forgotten what it’s like to be a first-time guest. They now have established relationships in the church. They love their church. Their biases tell them their church is great.” And let me add, they are familiar and comfortable with how the church functions.

Rainer continues, “But many church members and leaders are wrong. When we asked hundreds of guests about their experiences visiting churches, it was not a pretty picture. We asked specifically why they did not return to a particular church.” Here were their top ten responses:

  1. The stand and greet time in the worship service was unfriendly and awkward. Some guests saw it as only a ritual for the members while others felt ignored or inundated with superficial greetings.
  2. Unfriendly church members. Most church members usually don’t speak to guests because they don’t know them and instead retreat to holy huddles of the people they do know.
  3. Unsafe and unclean children’s areas. If your church does not have clear safety and security procedures, and if the children’s area is not clean and sanitary, young families will not return to your church.
  4. No place to get information about the church. Guests are trained to look for a central welcome and information center, however, some churches didn’t have one or it was hidden or it was unmanned.
  5. Bad church websites. Two critical items guests want to see on a church website are the physical address of the church and times of the services.
  6. Poor signage. Guests get frustrated when they don’t have clear directional signage for parking, the worship center, the children’s area and others.
  7. Insider church language. Listen carefully to the words and conversations in the worship service. See if members say things a first time guest would not understand.
  8. Boring or bad worship services. In a digital age, with so many affordable resources, no church is allowed that excuse.
  9. Members telling guests they were in the wrong pew or chair. In fact the common comment was, “You are sitting in my pew.”
  10. Dirty facilities. A dirty church facility communicates to the guest, “We really don’t care.”

The staff took some time to discuss this list and it was helpful to have Missy Buckland’s input. Our conversation revealed that we are doing some of these things well and that some areas could use much improvement. I realize that several of the complaints had to do with the consumerism mentality that has infiltrated the church culture, and yet my hope is that we would always be a welcoming, kind, attentive, and authentic gathering of Christ followers. And I would encourage you to have a conversation with your family or Life Group about these observations.

I am grateful for all of you who give special effort to making our guests feel welcome and loved and I am especially thankful for our weekly greeters, ushers, and hosts. I realize we all have different personalities, and yet with Christ living in us and the greatest Good News on our lips, my prayer is that our guests will always feel like they encountered a little piece of heaven when they join us for worship.

Laboring for the harvest, Mike Altena

 

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